Raspberry Pi 2 announced

by Jon Mundy 02 February 2015 |

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The Raspberry Pi 2 has been revealed, adding more processing power and memory to a familiar DIY computer package.

The first Raspberry Pi was launched two years ago, in February 2012. While we've seen subtle improvements and modifications since then, this marks the second major iteration since that point.

Despite that, the Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is broadly similar to the current Raspberry Pi Model B+.

The key improvement this time around is the inclusion of a new Broadcom BCM2836 900MHz quad-core processor, which replaces the old and slightly creaky Broadcom BCM2835 700MHz single-core chip. RAM has also been doubled over the B+ to 1GB of RAM.

The result of this is that the Raspberry Pi 2 can boast an estimated six times more power than the Raspberry Pi B+.

Speaking with The Register, foundation boss Eben Upton outlined what this power increase would mean in practical terms. "I think it's a usable PC now," he said. "It was always the case that you could use a Raspberry Pi 1 as a PC but you had to say 'this is a great PC in so far as it cost me 35 bucks'. We've removed the caveat that you had to be a bit forgiving with it. Now it's just good."



Read More: Creator CI20 vs Raspberry Pi: Battle of the DIY microcomputers

The Raspberry Pi 2 will retail for the exact same price as the Raspberry Pi B, which is just £22.85. Interestingly, however, the B+ will continue to be sold for the same price.

This is simply because not all industrial customers want to move on from the familiar set-up of the first generation Raspberry Pi.

Upton has promised that there will be an initial batch of 100,000 units for the Raspberry Pi 2. He doesn't anticipate the sort of six month waiting list that greeted the launch of the first Raspberry Pi model, but it should still be a strong seller.

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WhatsApp testing voice call feature

by Jon Mundy 02 February 2015 |

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Evidence has emerged that WhatsApp is testing a voice calling feature for the popular instant messaging app.

We've been expecting a voice calling element to be added to WhatsApp for about a year now. Back at MWC 2014, WhatsApp founder and CEO Jan Koum announced that it would be coming in Q2 of 2014.

The Facebook-owned company intends to make such voice calls accessible and affordable to all, with India and other emerging markets rumoured to be particular targets.

Of course, that early roll-out never happened. The company cited technical issues as reasons for the no-show, and revised its launch predictions to 2015.

Now, however, it appears as if the company may be almost ready to implement voice calling into the app. Pictures of the feature in action have been posted on Reddit, reports Venture Beat.

The new app appears to incorporate a three-tabbed UI for Calls, Chats, and Contacts, with a simple and familiar display when making and receiving calls.

Read More: Best video calling apps

The feature is seemingly being distributed through an invite system, suggesting that this is a limited test phase. "Its like an invite thing, where a person with the call feature needs to “call” another person who wants to start using the feature," said Reddit user pradnesh07.

They also note that the test software only appears to be working for Nexus 5 owners running Android 5.0 Lollipop.

Still, if we've got to such a viral testing phase, you can probably expect a general roll-out of this voice calling feature in the near future.

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HTC Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout is now officially late

by Jon Mundy 02 February 2015 |

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HTC One M8

The Android 5.0 Lollipop update is now officially late for many HTC One (M8) and HTC One (M7) owners, according to the company.

The Taiwanese manufacturer previously set itself the goal of providing updates to the latest version of the Android OS within 90 days of Google making the final code available. However, in the case of Android 5.0 Lollipop, HTC will not be able to stick to that target.

At least, it won't in many cases. The company has provided an update on its progress, and has been open about its struggles.

HTC has managed to provide Lollipop updates to Google Play, Unlocked, and Developer Editions of the HTC One (M8), but that leaves many that will no receive the update on time.

"Despite everyone’s best efforts some carrier versions of the HTC One (M8) and HTC One (M7) will not meet our 90 day goal, which is February 1st," says HTC vice president of product management Mo Versi.

Apparently, it's all Google's fault. "If you’ve been following the progress of this rollout you will know that Google has had to address several issues with this release," says Versi.



Read More: Android 5.0 Lollipop update: When will my phone get it

HTC has apparently been "diligently working" with Google to fix some of these issues at Google's end, as well as to implement Google's own fixes. The end result, however, is that the company's self-imposed 90-day deadline has passed with many HTC One (M8) and (M7) owners not getting their Lollipop update.

As the post points out, HTC has led the way with the speed and transparency of its update process in the past, and by all accounts Google has indeed released a somewhat unfinished, buggy release in Android 5.0. Just ask Motorola.

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Kärcher SC2.500C Steam Cleaners Review

What is the Kärcher SC2.500C?

The Kärcher SC2.500C is a powerful cylinder-style steam cleaner with twin tanks: one stores cold water, the other boils it to create steam. That means that it offers non-stop cleaning – you can top up the water tank at any time without disrupting the boiler.

Design is impressive, but for the price it would have been nice to get more tools included. However it does a great jobs on floors and more with the tools supplied, so it’s worth considering if you have lots of floor to clean – or as an upgrade to an existing machine.

Kärcher SC2.500C – Design and Features

The Kärcher has a cylinder, not upright, design. This means it's equally capable of cleaning floors or using tools to tackle curtains, upholstery and more. It comes with a small selection of tools and enough onboard storage space for more – Kärcher offers a long list of optional extra accessories.

Build quality is very sturdy, in Kärcher's iconic yellow, and while the machine is heavy, this matters less than it would in an upright cleaner because you're not lifting it all the time – it trails behind you on wheels as you clean.



Also Consider: Bissell Vac & Steam

The 4m long cable is disappointing, though – as you move round the house you'll need to unplug it and move to another socket more often than you would with a longer cable, some steam cleaner cables are twice as long.

The steam lance, which you can use with the mop or tools, is modular in two sections, so you can use one or both. The mop head is hard plastic, with no brushes, for carpets and rugs.

For hard floors you clip a cloth onto this – two terry cloths are supplied, but you could use any cloth. The cloth is gripped firmly by teeth at each side. Tools include a large brush, small brush and concentration nozzle.

Also Consider: Vax Steam Fresh Combi S86-SF-C

Kärcher SC2.500C – What's it like to use?

Filling can either be from a jug or you can pop out the reservoir and take it to the tap. Then switch on and wait: the water is pumped into the second tank and then takes six minutes to come to the boil.

After each use, more water is pumped across, which is noisy. But in return, you can top up the water at any time without stopping steam (it beeps to remind you when the tank is running low). This system delivers consistent steam at pressure and it's far more powerful than most steam cleaners.

The handle has convenient controls: high steam, low steam or child lock. But unless you use the latter to prevent use completely, there is no safety catch on the trigger. Forget to put on the child lock and it's too easy to trigger the steam accidentally while you're disconnecting the lance – we nearly got scalded.

As expected given the price, cleaning is impressive. The head is flat enough to fit well under furniture and it makes quick work of floors and more. But for the price it would have been good to get more accessories included. Also, the open top of the water tank means that if you lug the cleaner around too quickly it can spill.

Should I buy the Kärcher SC2.500C?

If money's no object, absolutely. It's more powerful and effective than most and can clean non-stop – it’s great choice for large homes and anyone who likes to steam clean often.

But if you'd prefer a bargain, the Polti Vaporetto GO does pretty much the same job – with more tools but without twin tanks – for a fraction of the price. Head to our steam cleaner reviews for more options.

Verdict

The Kärcher SC 2.500 C won't disappoint, but its excellent performance comes at a price and we'd like a longer cable.

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Why would Samsung want to buy BlackBerry?

Samsung buying BlackBerry: Here what it could mean for the two companies if a deal ever happens

Despite repeated denials from both companies, rumours persist that Samsung wants to buy BlackBerry.

It’s been claimed that Samsung has made an offer of $7.5 billion to acquire the company formerly known as RIM.

On the surface, this makes little sense. Samsung is the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, and is well known for covering every angle with its extensive handset roster led by the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 4.

By contrast, BlackBerry has fallen catastrophically from its position as the early smartphone pace-setter to a virtual irrelevance. Its iconic physical keyboard designs are now seen as a relic of a bygone age.

But there are several key reasons why Samsung might understandably and justifiably be interested in acquiring its Canadian rival.

Patents

Just because BlackBerry only represents a tiny percentage of the overall smartphone market, behind Windows Phone in most areas, doesn’t mean it isn’t an immensely valuable company. Much of its lingering value (and indeed its continued existence) reflects the fact that BlackBerry has some outstanding technology to its name.

In particular, BlackBerry has a formidable library of patents tucked away in its vaults.

That library runs to around 44,000 patents covering a broad spectrum of applications. Some, such as the company’s famed encryption technology, are licensed by major institutions such as the US government and various military organisations.

Samsung would understandably be interested in hoovering up the licensing payments that are being sent BlackBerry’s way, as well as adopting some of BlackBerry’s attractive back-end technology into its own offerings.

SEE ALSO: How to install Android apps on a BlackBerry

But there’s another reason why BlackBerry’s patent library would be attractive to a company like Samsung - Apple.

Over the past few years, Samsung has been plagued by repeated legal action from its great American rival, with Apple using its own considerable patent collection to attack Samsung in the courts. Even if Samsung did nothing with the BlackBerry brand or technology, its patents alone would strengthen its defence against its litigious rivals.

If that sounds fanciful, it’s arguably no less than what Google did when it acquired Motorola back in 2011, gaining access to its patents before selling the manufacturer on to Lenovo a couple of years later.

Access to the enterprise market

As we have just discussed, BlackBerry may have lost its lustre with individual consumers, but it’s a highly trusted brand in the corporate world.

That’s because many of those aforementioned patents pertain to advanced security features for sensitive areas like email, messaging, and data management. Those are all things that are of paramount interest in the lucrative enterprise sector.

Sure enough, BlackBerry handsets are still very popular with businesses around the world, while Samsung phones simply aren’t. It’s an area that Samsung desperately wants to crack, too.

SEE ALSO: BlackBerry Passport review

This can be seen by the fact that the South Korean company has really pushed its own security system, Knox, in recent years. However, the take-up by enterprise customers hasn’t been particularly enthusiastic, with BlackBerry and Apple continuing to lead the market.

Indeed, Apple’s success in the enterprise field is a major reason in itself for Samsung to want to buy BlackBerry. It would represent an instant way to compete with Apple in an all new area.

BB10

Another reason Samsung might want to buy BlackBerry will probably comes as a surprise to some. Samsung may well want the company’s BB10 operating system.

Why on earth would the world’s biggest smartphone maker want a third rate operating system? Well, the first point to note here is that BB10 is not a bad operating system by any means. At worst it’s a solidly capable OS that looks a little drab next to the flashier, better supported iOS 8 and Android 5.0.

Its interface, handling of messages, and of course security are very good indeed. You can even use Android apps on it without having to jump through hoops.

BB10’s failure is tied into the diminished BlackBerry brand and its own lateness to market compared to those aforementioned rivals.

Given a little Samsung rebranding and the full weight of its marketing and distribution team, a revamped BB10 could form the basis of a strong fourth option in the market.

And make no mistake, Samsung wants to create such a thing. The company can barely hide its frustration at having its smartphone success tied to Google’s Android OS. It wants to be like Apple, controlling the whole smartphone experience - hardware and software.

To that end, Samsung has tried transforming the look and feel of Android almost beyond recognition with its TouchWiz UI - and has been forced to roll its excesses back in recent times. It’s also tried launching its own OS in Tizen, with numerous problems and limited success to date.

Let’s face it - Samsung’s strength has never been its software. The question is, where on earth is a cash-rich tech company to get a pre-built, fully formed, solidly performing OS from?

A certain struggling Canadian company might have the answer.

A strong partnership already exists

The final point to discuss isn’t necessarily a reason why Samsung would want to buy BlackBerry, but rather a reason why such a move would be plausible.

Samsung and BlackBerry are already surprisingly close partners.

Indeed, when asked about the rumours concerning a potential take-over, Samsung co-CEO JK Shin said “We want to work with BlackBerry and develop this partnership, not acquire the company.”

“BlackBerry is one of our important business-to-business strategic partners.”



SEE ALSO: BlackBerry Passport vs iPhone 6

Back in November, the two companies announced a surprise deal that positioned BlackBerry Enterprise Server 12 as an alternative to Samsung’s Knox platform on Samsung tablets and smartphones.

It doesn’t take a great leap to go from this symbiotic relationship to a situation where the bigger partner swallows the little one. The necessary relationships have already been forged, mutual good will exists, and any transition would presumably be all the smoother for it.



Do you think Samsung buying BlackBerry is a good move? Weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below

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TomTom GO 50 Sat Nav Review

What is the TomTom GO 50?

The TomTom GO 50 sits in the middle of the basic GO x0 range, which is just above the entry-level Start series and offers a lifetime subscription to TomTom's brilliant Traffic service. The GO 50 is the 5-inch version, and is therefore very similar to the TomTom GO 40 and TomTom GO 60. However, a new software update has brought yet more sophistication to the routing system.

TomTom GO 50 – Design and Features

The routing improvement comes from additions to the information that Traffic provides. This now checks for severe weather reports when calculating a route. When heavy rain or snow, or any other adverse weather condition, is hampering traffic flow or possibly even stopping it, you will be prompted to change route.

This is obviously a hard feature to test objectively, particularly as UK weather was reasonably clement in the latter half of 2014. In fact, during testing, the warning didn't pop up at all, despite one of our journeys being a five-hour round trip. It's likely that this new feature won't be something that makes itself known very often, but it's reassuring to have it there if needed.

The poor weather zone shows up on the overall traffic map, and also on the route bar on the right of the map display if it's along your way. So you can get an overview and also see what's coming up on your journey, as well as how far away it is.

The new weather feature isn't exclusive to the GO 50, however. All of the recent GO devices can obtain it with the most recent software update. Another improvement with the new software update is the ability to avoid blocked roads, which was a significant omission before.

Being a GO x0 series rather than GO x000, however, the GO 50 requires your smartphone's data connection to deliver its Live services. You need to pair the GO 50 with your phone, with the latter acting as a personal hotspot, for the Live services to be available. This is relatively easy to set up, and the system guides you through the process, including signing up for the traffic service.

Like the entry-level Start, the GO 50 sports an integrated mount, rather than keeping this separate so you can rapidly take the device in and out of your car. But on the plus side, the mount can be slid out and reinserted so it angles out from the bottom rather than the top. This will allow the GO 50 to be mounted on top of a dashboard rather than hanging down from the windscreen.

TomTom GO 50 – Screen & Interface

The display also gives a tell-tale sign that the GO 50 is a budget device. It's resistive rather than capacitive, so there's no pinch to zoom and the interaction is generally not so responsive. The resolution is a modest 480 x 272 pixels, which would be lowly in a smartphone but isn't a particular problem for a sat-nav. We found the screen perfectly visible in regular conditions, but controlling the interface takes a little more care and attention compared to premium TomTom sat-navs with capacitive screens.

Otherwise, the GO 50 is another recipient of last year's major interface redesign, which we first saw with the GO 500. The 2013 menu rethink was a major departure from the icon and feature creep of previous models. TomTom had rationalised its many icons with the GO 1000 and its siblings in 2011, but the 2013 models pared everything away and put the map to the fore.

If you're used to an earlier TomTom, the fact that you can no longer simply tap on the screen to call up the menu will take a little getting used to. Instead, a circle containing three dots calls this up. The menu is also now a simple ribbon of icons you can swipe or scroll left and right, instead of layered pages of icons. However, it's very easy to use once you understand how it works.

Finding a destination has been simplified by unifying the address and points of interest (POI) databases into one, so it's possible to search across both with a single keyword. You can also search for a street name without needing to enter a town first, which can make for quick destination discovery when the road you are looking for has a unique title. You can focus down to near your current location, a specific city, along your route or near the destination.

When your phone is paired, you can search for POIs online, although this is not as effective as it was when Google Local Search was used in earlier devices. You can also call up voice control, for hands-free verbal operation, which is extremely effective for its limited range of menu choices. You can save a list of favourites in My Places, and also call up recent destinations. Multi-waypoint journeys can be created, saved, and recalled using My Routes. So there is a comprehensive set of options for setting up your navigation.

Alongside the simplified menu, TomTom simplified the map as well in the 2013 update. The background detail is more subtly shaded, which has made the route you're actually on stand out more clearly. You can add in a different set of colours if you want, with alternative theme options, although all use relatively subtle colours for the background. By default, there isn't quite as much information as there was with earlier TomTom map screens. Most of this has now been moved to the Route Bar on the right.

Your current speed and the limit is shown on the bottom of the screen, with just the distance to the next turning and its direction at the top. The Route Bar shows the estimated arrival time, the distance to the destination, plus traffic jams and speed cameras as you approach them. However, you can switch the Route Bar to a wider mode that also includes the time to destination, petrol stations plus parking opportunities along your route.

Overall, there's an effective amount of information about your journey available, and the simplification avoids confusing clutter. We have found TomTom's streamlined menu and maps very easy to use, and the GO 50 still includes the full-screen junction graphics and 3D buildings in cities. So you're getting almost the same navigational experience as the premium GO models.

Should I buy the TomTom GO 50? The TomTom GO 50 is a capable sat-nav, and at the time of writing was available for under £130 from some vendors. We still think the 4.3-inch GO 40 is the price sweet spot of the range, being the cheapest route to TomTom's Traffic service. But if you do want a larger screen, the GO 50 is around £10 more, making it almost as affordable and still very good value.

Verdict

The TomTom GO 50 marks the introduction of weather warnings, but the great value it represents for a 5-inch sat-nav is the main attraction.

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Motorola explains Lollipop delay as Moto G updates hit India and Brazil

by Chris Smith 30 January 2015 |

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Motorola has announced the 1st and 2nd generation Moto G phones have been updated to Android 5.0 in Brazil and India, but in doing so has tried to explain why the new OS has yet to hit handsets in all territories.

In a blog post (via CNET), Motorola’s software updates chief David Schuster has gone into detail on the lengthy process between Google releasing the update to manufacturers and getting it to consumer’s handsets.

Schuster said Lollipop was the most ambitious and largest version of Android yet and claimed everyone “needed time to adapt.”

He said as soon as Google released the source code Motorola began testing with third party carriers and governing organisations in the various countries.

After Motorola gets done with it’s own testing, it is then passed on to local networks to ensure it’s all up to standard.

Read more: Android 5.0 Lollipop update: When will my phone get it

Explaining why some users receive the updates before others, Schuster said: “ “Before releasing an upgrade widely, we perform “soak” tests, during which we release the software to a small group of users so that we can monitor performance data and user feedback over several days to make sure everything looks good.

“It is very important to us that an upgrade improves your experience. The soak test can reveal problems that need to be fixed, and based on the feedback we may decide to tweak or incorporate new changes to correct any issues.”

The Motorola blog post doesn’t reveal anything we didn’t already know, but it’s nice to see one of the major manufacturers acknowledging the inherent problems of upgrading to the latest versions of Android.

Moto did say Google’s launch of developer previews had helped to speed up the roll out of updates and championed its ability to get Lollipop to the Pure Edition Moto X in just 8 days.

However, There’s still no word on when the promised update will land on UK versions of the Moto G stable, although the firm promised a staged roll out for the 2nd gen version in the United States.

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